Netdisaster

In the category of fun software applications, Netdisaster is a nifty little tool that includes a bunch of features for virtually creating chaos on your desktop.

This is a portable application, so installing Netdisaster is not necessary. It means that you can store the tool on a USB flash drive or any other removable device, and directly run its executable file on any computer.

The most important aspect is that the Windows Registry is not updated with new entries, and no files are left behind on the hard drive after deleting the tool. You can carry Netdisaster in your pocket whenever you're on the go. For example, you can play a prank on your friends' desktop.

The interface of the program is based on a small frame where you can select the disaster type (Flash-based animation) from a drop-down menu.

There are many categories available, such as Nature (Meteors, Flood, Flowers), Technology (e.g. Nuke, UFO, Gun, Paintball, Chainsaw), Life Forms (e.g. Dinosaur, Wasp, Flies, Mold), Home and Office (e.g. Fried Eggs, Spilled Coffee, Tomatoes, Cream Pie) and Miscellaneous (Demonstration, God Almighty).

Some of the disaster types come with sound effects and allow mouse control. Plus, you can enable "massive destruction" mode to enhance the experience. All you have to do is pick a disaster type and click the Go button.

The lightweight program runs on a very low amount of CPU and system memory, so it shouldn't put a strain on the computer's resources. It has a good response time and worked smoothly during our evaluation, without hanging, crashing or displaying error dialogs; we have not come across any issues.

What's worth mentioning is that Netdisaster creates screenshots of your desktop and saves them to the same directory as the root files; thus, you cannot run this app from a read-only device. Netdisaster is an entertaining program which demonstrates the many ways in which you can make fun of your desktop.